Iga Swiatek’s new coach gives insight into plans to beat the likes of Aryna Sabalenka
Wim Fissette is ready to take Iga Swiatek’s game to the next level as he revealed that the goal is to win more Grand Slams away from Roland Garros.
After disappointing grass-court and North American hard-court swings, Swiatek announced earlier in October that she had parted company with Tomasz Wiktorowski after three successful years together.
Nineteen of Swiatek’s 22 WTA singles titles – including four majors – came under the tutelage of Wiktorowski, but the 23-year-old felt she was “ready to take the next step of my career” as she opted to look for a new coach outside of Poland.
She turned to Fissette and he comes with a Grand Slam-winning pedigree as he guided Kim Clijsters (3), Angelique Kerber (1) and Naomi Osaka (2) to major trophies.
He hopes to have similar success with Swiatek, but he wants the Pole to start winning major titles on surfaces away from her beloved clay.
“Our goal is for Swiatek to start adding more Grand Slam titles on other surfaces as well. The clay-court season has its own twists. There are a lot of matches and tournaments played in a short period of time,” he told Eurosport Poland.
“You need to get into a rhythm, gain confidence, and after Paris it’s time to switch to other surfaces. Then there will be an opportunity to work on playing on other surfaces and try to succeed there.”
Although Swiatek remains the No 1 player in the world and has won the most titles (5) this year, many believe she has fallen behind Aryna Sabalenka with the Belarusian winning the Australian Open and US Open.
The Pole leads their head-to-head 8-4, but Sabalenka and fellow big-hitter Elena Rybakina have caused big problems for Swiatek away from clay.
Fissette was asked how he plans to prepare his player mentally for big matches and feels technical and tactical analyses of rivals will be key.
“Top players want to play big matches, that’s their main motivation. They usually don’t have problems with it, it makes them happy,” he said.
“How do I work? I have information, videos. I prepare my players, we discuss strengths and weaknesses, prepare tactically and draw conclusions.
“In the case of tennis players like Aryna Sabalenka or Elena Rybakina, you make an analysis and look for a way to beat them.”
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But it is not always easy to take a top player’s game to the next level, especially one who has already won Grand Slams and topped the WTA Rankings.
“On the one hand, they say that in tennis you should never change winning tactics,” Fissette explained. “On the other hand, Iga has her strengths, but as I said, you have to develop and that will be very important.
“I see the progress she has made in the last two years, first of all she moves better on the court. Watching her over the last two seasons has been a pleasure.
“We need to spend more time together to see certain things. To understand how she sees her future, her development. We need to work harder and set certain goals. I analsze all the information, based on it it is easier to see what needs to be improved, then set goals and analyze after a few months what we are doing next.”
